The Hunter

Chapter 5
Escape from Danger

Chapter Description: Heather and Addy must flea from a group of Hunters.

The twilight of the night found Heather running down alleys to avoid even more hunters who apparently had a bone to pick with her. Addy started to cry from how rough she was being with him. "SHH! Shush, little one, they’ll find us," she whispered to her small, helpless companion. She knew he was hungry, and that his diaper needed to be changed, which wasn’t helping their situation at all, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"This way!!!" she heard a deep voice call out. This was insane. She had to sprint full speed just to keep out of their sight, but that wasn’t doing her much good at this point. Her scent was in the air and Addy was making noise. Their chances for survival were very slim.After turning a couple corners she hit a dead end. "Oh no..." she cried to herelf as she trembled. Finally she crouched down in a corner, hoping that her attempt at concealment would save them.

She felt her body heat up as the band of Hunters passed the dead end during their search.The heat felt excrutiating, as if she had been dropped into a very volcano. Still, she knew that if she let out even the slightest moan, they would hear her, find her, and kill the both of them. She only hoped that Addy would remain silent for long enough for them to escape...

"Where is she?" she could make out a Hunter calll out to his comrads. "They’rre gone!" another one called back.Heather strained to listen better. She could barely make out footsteps, she could then barely hear a small, quiet, nasal man’s voice, "You are telling me a woman and an infant outran a team of Hunters?" The voice sent a shiver down Heather’s spine. "Master, she just disappeared," one of the Hunters replied.

"I gave you dogs my power and you can’t track down one measly girl, on the verge of pissing herself?" Heather could sense the fear the Hunters felt from this voice that made her also tremble. "Well, no matter." he snickered, "You will find them, now go, dogs." Heather could hear the Hunters cower in terror over the fate that would befall them, then there was silence. She could hear moans. Moans turned into deep groans, which became shrieks and yells. The yells became barking and howling. She could hear the dogs padding toward their master. "Go, my hellhounds, find the woman Heather and bring her to me!!!"

Heather began to cry. It was hopeless. A pack of monsters was coming for her. She heard a growl and then spotted one of the fiery creatures as it spotted her. It bounded toward her. She envisioned it givng her and Addy as bloody heaps, barely clinging to life, to its master. She closed her eyes as she prepared for the worst.

"Break" she heard herself say as her eyes opened. She felt the same heat she’d felt earlier, but knew that it radiated off her. As the hound lunged at her she grabbed its nose .The hellhound let out a barely audible yelp as it turned into a puff of smoke. She saw her long, dark hair bounce back as she absorbed the monster’s power. Addy cringed in the arm she alotted him for support. "I’ve no use for a child in this battle," she said, "AWAKEN!!!" Addy turned into a black, swirling mist, which she threw into the sky. Venessia materialized Adrul’s blade and threw it into the swirling mist.

Adrul leapt down from the blackness, sword in hand. He pointed it at Vanessia. "No more tricks, Sorceress. We end this now!"

Vanessia shook her head. "You will fight on my behalf and you will do it now, dog."

Adrul hated being called dog. Though it was the inevitable fate of Hunterrs to turn into hellhounds to serve their demonic masters, he’d been certain that he’d avoided that fate by slaying his master. "Wench, we end this now!!!" Adrul gasped as his blade heated in his hands. He dropped it, unable to withstand the extreme temperature.

"You’ve been babied by my other half for long enough. Now is the time you serve your purpose," she said as she picked up his sword with no more effort than picking up a bag of coins, "Swear your loyalty to me!!!" They could hear growling as the rest of the pack found them.

"I am no dog!" Adrul said as he hit one of the hounds with his bare hand. The flames burned him, but did far less damage than they would have to a normal human.

"The fate of all Hunters, bound or free, is to become a dog that serves demons. The fact that you have no master makes you fair game to other demons." Vanessia threw his sword into one of the beasts and watched as it too became a puff of smoke. "Serve me and you will live a long life. You may eventually become a demon yourself."

Adrul couldn’t believe his ears. He grabbed his sword and started to attack the brutes. Vanessia started to chant her spell. "Why turn me into a child in the first place?"

Vanessia continued her chanting, "Fierce north winds, bring forth respite from the fires wrought by the chaos of hell and restore the land ravaged by darkness!!! FLOOD!!!"

Clouds blotted out the stars which had been visible but moments before. It was just seconds before the precipitation began to pour. The rain was very light at first, steam hissed from the hellhounds’ bodies as the kept going in spite of the moisture, but the rain progressively grew heavier as it snuffed out the fiery dogs. "Child’s play," Vannessia stated as her form slipped into slumber once more. Adrul watched Vannessia closely as she became weak. Her form seemed to lose balance as a spark of white light errupted from her hand, seeming to consume her. "No... not again... " she said as the light engulfed her. Adrul watched as the demoness transformed into none other than his self-proclaimed mother, Heather.